Verdict in murder case delayed again

Judges in stabbing attack waiting to hear from blood relatives of the victim.

ABU DHABI // The Federal Supreme Court today postponed its verdict for a man accused of killing one man and wounding another.

The court is awaiting blood relatives of the victims. The verdict has already been delayed once before.

AA had been sentenced to death by the Sharjah Court of First Instance for stabbing AY to death and severely wounding AM.

AM said he was standing with AY in front of his villa when he heard AA shouting loudly. When he went to speak with AA, he said, the other man attacked him with a knife. AY tried to separate the two, but was stabbed to death.

AA argued that he did not mean to kill AY and was only waving his knife around to scare him. He added that he only stabbed AM after he attacked.

AA appealed the death sentence, which the court changed to 10 years on the grounds that attacking the victims with a knife did not mean he meant to kill them.

The verdict was appealed to the Federal Supreme Court by public prosecution, who asked for a harsher sentence, and by AA, who seeks acquittal.

The case has been adjourned until Tuesday. The blood relatives had before refused to accept blood money and asked for a death sentence.